Dear HCN,
James Souby’s letter in
the Dec. 21 edition concerning the Western Governors’ Association
“Enlibra” program is contradictory. On the one hand, Souby lauds
the Oregon Salmon Plan as a “good example” of “environmental
management strategies that incorporate balance and stewardship”
while on the other he asserts “skepticism” that Enlibra-style
“solutions’ would work “where 90 percent of what we are fighting
over is already lost.”
Unfortunately, that is
exactly the situation we face with so many of the “environmental
issues’ facing the West. Whether we talk salmon, old growth,
grizzlies, wetlands or clean water, we see that 90 percent has, in
fact, been turned into cash profits.
It is
disturbing that the executive director of the Western Governors’
Association, the entity pushing hard for Kitzhaber’s approach to
salmon and clean water, is not aware of the degraded state of these
Western resources. Nevertheless, I believe most grassroots
activists would welcome state initiatives that address core issues.
So far, however, all Oregon’s efforts are producing is
display-window projects, farm plans which are rarely implemented
and lots of feel-good process.
Enviros like to
feel good but only real reform can do the trick. The Western
governors have been in charge of the Clean Water Act for 20 years.
Why are so many Western rivers impaired? The states have been
“restoring” salmon for about as long. Why are stocks still going
extinct? What we need from the Western Governors’ Association (and
its executive director) is less self-promotion and more
results.
Felice
Pace
Etna, California
Felice Pace is executive director of the
Klamath Forest Alliance and a 24-year resident of the Scott River
Valley in far Northern California (aka “Greater Oregon.”
)
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Enlibra is just window dressing.
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